National Recognition For Focus On Animal Welfare

Otago Polytechnic's School of Animal Health has been named joint winner of the 2024 Aotearoa New Zealand John Schofield 3Rs Award, for its work around the ethical use of animals in research, testing and teaching.

The School of Animal Health and Lee Morris of Equibreed ART were judged co-recipients of the award, jointly presented by the National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee (NAEAC) and the Australian & New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART NZ).

The two organisations were recognised for outstanding work in implementing the 3Rs principles (replacement, reduction, refinement), which aim to improve animal welfare and replace and reduce the use of live animals where possible, refine study design, handling, and housing of animals to improve life experiences.

The biennial award is named after high profile veterinarian John Schofield, whose work focused on the welfare of animals used in research and teaching. This 3Rs award was created to recognise similar achievements by others in this important area of research, testing, and teaching.

Otago Polytechnic is also proud to be the first polytechnic in the country to hold the Certified Low-Stress Handling for Dogs and Cats Award, and has strong oversight through an Animals@OP committee which ensures all legal and ethical obligations are met when animals are used in teaching, research and events.

NAEAC Chair Professor Nat Waran says Otago Polytechnic’s project “addresses the critical challenge of ensuring veterinary nursing and allied animal healthcare learners graduate with the necessary competencies, while maintaining high standards of animal ethics.”

“Their primary focus is to balance teaching safe, ethical, and effective handling and procedural skills, and recognising and mitigating animal stress, with ethical objectives and obligations,” she said.

The co-recipients each receive $5,000 which will assist kamahi at the School of Animal Health in continuing a range of initiatives, including advanced training modules, staff development, research and continuing education, and outreach activities as well as enhancing dialogue on animal ethics.

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